Eating Behaviour and Food Preferences of Tîrgu Mures High School Students

Abstract

Abstract Introduction. Due to a busy and exhausting urban lifestyle parents do not always have the necessary time to pay sufficient attention to the quality of the dietary habits of their children. Objective. Starting from the premise that teenagers have insufficient information about healthy eating, the present study aimed to highlight eating behaviours and nutrition knowledge deficits in a group of 427 high school students from Tîrgu Mures. Methods. An observational study based on lifestyle and food frequency consumption was conducted. In 2017, students in fifteen classes from several High School Institutions from Targu Mures, Romania, were asked to complete a questionnaire with questions relating to the current state of health, lifestyle characteristics, anthropometric indicators, frequency of daily meal consumption, significance and intake of food additives, leisure activities performed and also teenagers’ preferences for food products. Results. The average age of the respondents was 16.1 years old, 72.6% were boys, and 82% lived in the city. 43.6% of respondents stated that food is a necessity, while 22% asserted that food characterizes a pleasure for them. Concerning the calorific value of foods, 32.8% stated that they have no interest in the calorie content of different food products while only 26%, mainly girls, took notice of these. 31.10% of respondents indicated that they include the recommended amount of vegetables in their daily diet, 22% prefer to eat preserved foods while increased consumption of sweets was observed in 39.80%. 55.50% of respondents ate breakfast on a regular basis, and 37% read food labels. Conclusions. The results emphasise the necessity to develop more effective educational programs designed to create necessary background information for a young generation, change adolescent dietary behaviours for the better, and thus prevent dietary related diseases.